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Do you reload 38 special???

haroldchrismeyerharoldchrismeyer Member Posts: 2,213 ✭
edited January 2010 in Perry Shooter Competition Shooting and Reloading Forum
If you do, check your cases before you start loading. If you have any marked FC NT, separate them out before you start. I will try a reamer for the primer pocket later, but without reaming they are just about impossible to seat a primer into. I haven't ever had so much trouble loading even with crimped primers.

I started loading some 38 special cases I got from a friend. I had trouble getting Winchester primers, so I was using Federal. Every seventh or eighth case I was having trouble, and with a Lee progressive it can be bothersome trouble. I decided to slow down and see what the problem really was. I deprimed a few hundred, then used a hand tool to seat the primers. On the very first case I found the trouble. Then I had to get that stuck thing out of the shellholder. I sorted out the rest of that headstamp, and had no more trouble.

I knew on 45acp they were small instead of large, just never imagined this trouble out of some that looked the same.
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Comments

  • TopkickTopkick Member Posts: 4,452 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I also have some trouble with my Lee loader in seating primers.
    I believe its an alignment problem with mine.
    I set aside the difficult to prime cases, and then follow up with the Lee hand priming tool and it works fine.

    I clean the pocket with the Lee tool chucked in my drill motor and it goes pretty fast.
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  • Riomouse911Riomouse911 Member Posts: 3,492 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Are those military headstamps? I'm wondering if the primer pocket is affected by the primer's crimp like the 5.56/7.62 NATO etc. cases are. I load gobs of .38's, but so far they've all been regular civilian headstamps. I'll keep a lookout for the ones you've described.

    I have the same issue with my Lee progressives in .44 sp/mg and .38 sp/.357mg not priming properly. I now remove the powder/seat dies and decap/size all my cases at once. I then hand-prime. Once that's done I remove the decap/size die and then put on the powder and seating dies to finish them off. It's a pain, but the primer headache drove me nuts.
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  • dtknowlesdtknowles Member Posts: 810 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Riomouse911
    I have the same issue with my Lee progressives in .44 sp/mg and .38 sp/.357mg not priming properly. I now remove the powder/seat dies and decap/size all my cases at once. I then hand-prime. Once that's done I remove the decap/size die and then put on the powder and seating dies to finish them off. It's a pain, but the primer headache drove me nuts.


    On my Lee progressive press the primers were not getting seated deep enough. I put eighth inch thick piece of bar stock on the press frame under the priming punch and it primes fine now.

    Tim
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  • haroldchrismeyerharoldchrismeyer Member Posts: 2,213 ✭
    edited November -1
    It wasn't an alignment problem, that is what I was being sure of by going to the Lee hand priming tool to be sure what was going on. The primer pocket is definitely smaller. I tried to use a crimp removal tool, but still can't get the primers in these cases. I have loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds, and have been doing it for over thirty years. I have never had any trouble getting primers in before, even without removing the crimps on military cases. I even tried a few Winchester primers just to be sure it isn't the Federal ones I was using.

    If anyone wants a few, send me your address and I will mail them to you, so you can try to come up with a solution. My solution will be to presort, and discard.
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  • rsnyder55rsnyder55 Member Posts: 2,526 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Has anyone contacted Federal to see what these cases were designed for?
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  • dcs shootersdcs shooters Member Posts: 10,870 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The NT is most likley NON TOXIC. We hae been running into some 45ACP.NT with small primers.
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  • lksmith03lksmith03 Member Posts: 1,742 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Something to keep in mind is that Lee says not to use Federal primers on their equipment due to them being more sensitive than others. Atleast my Lee equipment says so
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  • dg101windg101win Member Posts: 751 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by dcs shooters
    The NT is most likley NON TOXIC. We hae been running into some 45ACP.NT with small primers.


    This has been my experience also. NT=Non Toxic=small primers.
    FC probably stands for Federal.
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